The Cat's Out of the Bag
by basil783
Summary: The team discover something shocking about their enigmatic leader and Jack has to deal with the consequences. Happy birthday Ianto! This is my first ever fan fic so please no flames. Also, I don't own anything, just borrowing.
1. Chapter 1

The day in the Hub started off quietly enough, then Owen just had to test out his new gene sequencer.

"What the actual fuck, Harkness?!"

"Did you need something, Owen?" came Jack's far too calm reply.

" This thing says you are 8% common house cat! I've checked the machine readings four times and the blood sample is the one I drew last night. It's not wrong, you're a fucking feline!" Ianto saw telltale signs that Jack was starting to panic and seriously wished the irate doctor had a little more respect for the doctor/patient confidentiality thing and hadn't blurted out that information in front of the entire team. He quietly slipped off to the kitchenette to brew fresh coffee for everyone as it seemed they could all use it.

Jack felt his pulse speed up considerably and tried very hard to sound nonchalant as well as avoiding Tosh and Gwen's looks of shock and disgust respectively. "That's not that big of a deal, Owen. By the time I was born there was a lot of inbreeding with other species. There's one called Cat-kind that is especially compatible with humans. I think it was my great, great aunt."

"Jack that's disgusting. It's bestiality! How can you expect us to follow someone who's not even one of us?" Jack should have known Gwen would be the first to question his ability to lead his own team.

"Ahem." Ianto's interrupted, "Perhaps this would be a better conversation to have in the conference room where everyone can express their concerns without devolving into a shouting match." The pointed look at Gwen and Owen did not go unnoticed. Ianto put the coffees down in the boardroom on the side table and turned back to the team again. "I'm going to get some pastries from the shop and we can all discuss this CALMLY in a few minutes, after everyone has had some time to gather their thoughts and remember we have enough problems with the rift without creating more." With that he made his way out to the Plass leaving the team to think on his words.

Jack walked straight into the board room and started to place the drinks in their respective places while he tried to figure out how to explain to his team that he was what he was and it didn't change anything. At least until the small white pills he had slipped into four of the cups finished their work. This wasn't the first time people in his life had turned on him the instant they discovered anything real about him but he had hoped that this team would be able to handle it. The disappointment he felt was palpable but he tried to tell himself it wasn't their fault, humans just weren't evolved to that point yet.

Ianto got back in record time and the team settled down for their treats and to talk about this new development. Tosh went first.

"I just don't understand how the human race could possibly inbreed with another species and actually reproduce. It's mindboggling. And a bit disturbing to be honest." At least she was trying to look at it logically rather than the kneejerk speciesism the other two had demonstrated.

Jack glanced over at his lover who was sipping his coffee and simply watching the events unfold. He just wanted to get rid of the others, take the younger man to bed and try to erase the looks of horror they had at his secret that wasn't really a secret. He had briefly considered retconning himself as well, he would lose less than an hour after all, but leaving the rift completely unmanned was irresponsible and dangerous.

"They have humanoid forms and can speak very well, Tosh. Besides, breeding between races was illegal here less than a century ago. Everyone evolved eventually."

"Well, I'm out for the night, this is too freaky, even by Torchwood standards." Owen looked to the women to tell them to head out too but realized they were asleep in their chairs. "Oh you bastards..."

He fell forward and would have slammed into the table had Ianto not grabbed him and lowered him to the floor. Ianto then finished off his coffee and walked over to the couch to settle down. Jack looked at Ianto with concern and followed him.

Ianto looked up at his boss/lover and scooted over to make some room for him.

"Are you angry with me?" Jack hated how scared he sounded but Ianto was his grounding and he didn't want to lose him.

Ianto just stared straight ahead and replied, "It's your secret, Jack it's fine to keep it." He then shifted so he was using Jack as a pillow. "Did I ever tell you about the first time I met Lisa?" To say Jack was surprised at the change of topic was an understatement, but Ianto NEVER talked about his past and especially not about Lisa so he kept his silence, hoping the boy would continue. " I had been with Torchwood 1 for about three weeks and I had taken to jogging in the mornings before my day started in this little park near my flat. There was a brilliant flash and a thump about 100 yards behind me and when I went to see what it was. I found the most beautiful creature I had ever seen to that point laying on the ground curled up in a fetal position, shaking. She was a giant cat with human form. Her fur was golden with light brown spots and she had the most brilliant green eyes that looked terrified. I told her I would help and pulled out my phone to call it in." Upon feeling Jack stiffen he added. "I feel I should remind you I was 19 years old and had been with Torchwood less than a month. I legitimately thought they would help her, not hurt her. Anyway I hadn't even dialed when my phone was literally kicked out of my hand and when I looked up the cat creature to my left immediately moved to second most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Lisa told me she had seen me running about the tower with files and such so she knew what I was about to do. She insisted that they would see this feline as something to dissect and study and we had to hide her before they found her. The cat creature was fully aware and seemed to understand us so I bundled them both back to my flat. I went to work as usual while Lisa and Karina, that was the creature's name, hid in my flat trying to figure out a safe place for the latter. We ended up putting Karina up in a little cottage about two hours north of this base. By some miracle, no one at the tower caught onto the fact that we had hidden an alien from them. The exact location is in my diary if you want that information but please don't go storming up there. She's my only friend." Jack felt a chill run down his spine as he realized how close Ianto had come to dying that day. He sent a silent thank you to Lisa for protecting Ianto's innocence for as long as she had. He knew that Ianto would have been taken out of the archives and put into the field immediately if he had in fact reported finding a Cat-Kind and had he tried to hide her himself he most likely would have been caught and executed without question. He gave his Welshman one more kiss before starting the task of setting up the hub to explain why 4/5 of the team fell asleep at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

**FranArian** : Thanks for the fav!

 **I Love Janto** : Gwen strikes me as the type that shoots her mouth off without thinking whenever her narrow view of her coworkers, specifically Jack, is altered.

Bad smut warning in this chapter!

Chapter 2 The Cat's out of the Bag

The team seemed to accept Jack's explanation that the genetic sequencer had a booby trap on it that Owen accidentally activated and rendered them all unconscious for a short period of time. Well, maybe not Ianto. Then again, he had left Jack alone with the coffee and distracted the rest of the team giving him time and opportunity to take back his secret and as such hadn't pushed the issue. After the rest of the team had called it an early night Jack made a decision and called Ianto back to the board room. Ianto was extremely nervous at what Jack wanted with him in the conference room as sex was unlikely there. The sight of his diary was particularity unsettling as he sat very straight in Tosh's usual chair across from his captain.

"I'm not angry, Ianto, but we do need to talk about Karina."

Ianto briefly considered getting angry at Jack for reading his personal writings, again, but the more pressing concern that he had hidden something huge from his team, again, caused him to hold the thought in. "All the information about her is in there, Sir. I don't have anything to add except please leave her alone. She lives quietly and there's no way to send her back to her own time and place." His eyes maintained their contact for a bit before dropping to the table. Jack could see the heightened fear radiating off his youngest employee and he had an extremely unpleasant flashback to the last night of Ianto's suspension when he told the boy that he would execute him without hesitation if he ever hid anything again.

"Ianto, look at me." He flinched at the unshed tears Ianto had, "I understand why you didn't want Torchwood near her but if I can talk to her I might be able to find her a ride home, or at least better protection. I swear that we won't harm her in anyway."

"She trusts me, Jack." It was so quiet that Jack was barely able to catch it and he finally gave into the temptation to go around the table and hold this broken man, trying to put him back together, again.

"I'm part Cat-kind." He said it so bluntly even he was surprised by the revelation however he pushed on. "The people in this world, good people, Ianto, do not take kindly to those that are different and they will hurt her if they find her. I know this first hand." Ianto's shudder at the implication of Jack being tortured and the fact that he put his arms around Jack were both encouraging. "She's already been here 5 years and sooner or later someone is going to notice she isn't human and she could be seriously hurt or killed. Let us, let _me,_ help her please."

"Ok, we'll go see her in the morning. I hope she forgives me."

"When was the last time you went to see her?"

"During my suspension. She was the only one I thought I could talk to about Lisa."

'He could have called me' Jack thought but he he settled on "I'm glad you had someone to go to. I know we weren't been on great terms then."

"We are now, Jack." Ianto's hands had started wandering and he started nuzzing the older man's neck and throat. Jack moaned as Ianto started unbuttoning his shirt and his fingers brushed against a suddenly very sensitive nipple. Jack lifted Ianto up onto the table and explored every crevice of his mouth.

"Shall we move somewhere more comfortable, Sir?"

"Nope. Need you right here." So much for no sex in the board room.

 **A/N** I'm really bad at smut! So sorry it doesn't get more descriptive!


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